I think I’m getting the hang of this Plastex stuff since I started messing with it a couple weeks ago. Fixed a few other cracks in the dash, but I can tell already that if I find another dash down the road, I’m chucking this one. Still, I’m not about to throw this one away, despite the missing slats in the speaker grille. I don’t actually remember whether it came like that, the body shop guys did it or I punched the hole. Either way, I have the nutmeg dash with a perfect grille.

So, of course, if it’s perfect, I cut it up. It’s like a buddy of mine says – “Anybody can restore an old car – it takes a real man to cut one up!” I tried to cut the entire speaker grille and the two good mounting posts out, but the plastic kept breaking the cutting wheels on my Dremel, so I decided just to grab the grille section I needed.

The section mated rather well, save for the outside edge. Like before, I sanded it down and made it far less conspicuous. A few shots of black vinyl dye further masked any evidence of repairs.

Looking back on it all, I probably could have made a lot less work for myself by using the better nutmeg dash, dyed black. Not like I’m going for originality points with this project. But what fun is it to just breeze through life? No, I have to add a level of difficulty to everything. It gives me a good excuse when everybody asks why I haven’t finished the project yet.